The Victorian Armored Quadcycle...!

As long as anyone can remember, mankind has been very creative in the weapons used to kill each other.

Some of these weapons were brilliant, in a gruesome sort of way. I'm sure many of them inspired more than one invention that excluded killing altogether.

The Motor Scout

Photo via Wikimedia

The Simms Motor Scout was invented by British inventor Frederick Richard Simms between 1888 and 1889. It is one of the world’s first armed vehicles and looked similar to the US-made Davidson-Duryea armed tricycle, except that it fielded a .303-caliber machine gun and ran on four wheels, although it is regarded as a “quadcycle” rather than a car.

The only armor on the Simms Motor Scout was placed around its machine gun, and that was to protect its operator from a frontal shot. The operator’s back and rear were left exposed, leaving him very vulnerable to fire from the side or rear. While the vehicle was never used in warfare, it did reveal that four-wheeled vehicles could also be used as mobile weapons to kill enemy forces on the battlefield. The Motor Scout also motivated Simms to create a fully armored car, which he called the Motor War Car. It’s accepted as the world’s first armored car and in some instances, the world’s first armored tank.

My biggest concern with this thing is being exposed to enemy fire from the side and rear. I reckon it didn't take that long to invent the armored car to prevent that!

Coffee out on the patio this morning.